Derek Morgan's Courage
by boerwina
Summary: Morgan needs to gain courage and stop ignoring his feelings for Garcia. Will he tell her? Will she listen?
1. Chapter 1

"What brings you in so early, Princess?" Morgan asked as he walked into her office, a tall caramel macchiato extended toward her.

" Team B was in hot pursuit of a big league nasty and your all knowing Oracle was needed." She replied as she spun around to face him and upon spotting the drink, she eagerly raised her hands in anticipation. "You are truly a god. You know that right?" she asked as she took her first sip.

"I think you've got that backward Baby Girl, there is only room for one heavenly body in this relationship and you've got it covered." Morgan took a sip of his own coffee and his eyebrow arched as he looked back at Garcia practically falling asleep in her office chair. "What a minute. Garcia, how early did you come in?"

"My chocolate sculpted god of thunder, you know sleep is not an option when there are creepy crawlers out there just waiting to be found." She said slightly sleepily from her chair.

"Lie down Baby. You are dead on your feet. I don't want any backtalk from you either. You need to rest." He said as he walked toward her. "Come on Baby Girl, just an hour or so on the couch right there. I'll stay and wake you up if anyone needs anything."

"Morgan, I'm fine. Really." She shook her head and remained in the chair. "Don't you have someone else to worry about?"

"What did I say woman?" He asked with a tone that said he was going to win this one.

"Fine. I'll make a trade. Are you in a gambling mood Derek?" she smiled at him as she stood up and invaded his personal space.

"Where you're concerned? Probably not. But okay Baby Girl, what do you have cooking in that gorgeous mind of yours?" he smirked at her and pulled her the last few inches to him.

"If I'm not actually tired enough to sleep, you buy dinner tonight and If I actually fall asleep, I buy dinner tonight." She spoke into his chest as she held him tightly against herself.

"Lao Ming's? And a Star Wars Marathon? Baby Girl, I win either way when you are concerned. Go lie down baby. I'll go get some files and work in here for a little while. We've got 45 minutes or so before Hotch shows up." He guided her to the couch and as she started to get settled he left to go get some paperwork. She was sleeping when he got back.

LATER THAT NIGHT:

"Baby Girl?" Morgan called as he unlocked her door, brown paper bags from their favorite Thai restaurant and DVDs in his hands.

"In the kitchen." She called. "I'm making a drink. Want a beer?"

"What did I do to deserve you?" He asked with a smile as he put the food on the table and continued to the fridge to grab a beer. Penelope was adding some fruit juice to the blender. "You making some fruity drink?"

"And it will be super yummy." She smiled at him. "If you want to set the food up in the living room, we can eat and start watching." He nodded and kissed her on the forehead on the way by. When her drink was sufficiently fruity and delicious, she joined Morgan on the couch. They ate in a comfortable silence for while before Penelope said something. "I'm really glad of where we are. Are you?"

"Of course Princess. Woman, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'd be lost without you." Derek paused for a minute before continuing. "Princess, don't ever let me screw up so bad that we aren't a _we_ okay?"

"If necessary, I will tie you up and never let you leave my apartment. Of course, that would allow me to do _whatever _I _desired_ . . ." She trailed off and laughed when she looked at Morgan and noticed he had a faraway look in his eyes. "Come on my own personal God of chocolate, Star Wars is waiting." Still chuckling, she got up and carried the remainder of the food into the kitchen. Derek recovered with a shake of his head and carried his bowl behind her.

A FEW NIGHTS LATER:

The team sat around a table, at the local bar, aptly named THE LOCAL SPOT. The whole team was present to witness Derek Morgan's fall from grace. The night had started simply enough. It actually seemed pretty normal. Dave, Hotch and Morgan kept getting drinks bought for them and they were getting hit on from all of the women in the bar. Instead of indulging in his usual behavior however; Derek was completely ignoring the attention and was watching Penelope with a ferocity that few had seen before.

"Morgan, are you okay?" Reid asked with concern.

"He's fine Reid. He's just realizing what was in front of him all along. Aren't you Derek?" Emily asked.

Derek turned to face them. "I just don't like the look of that guy. He's no good. I can tell."

"Hmmm. You sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Penelope is interested in him?" She knowingly suggested as she scanned the bar with her eyes and sipped her martini slowly.

"She's not interested in him. She's just being polite."

"I'm pretty sure that polite doesn't include swapping saliva in a public place." Reid interjected.

"She's WHAT?" Morgan stood abruptly and scanned the area looking for Penelope. Seeing her bright red top, he stomped across the bar. When he reached them, he roughly pulled him off of her.

"Derek? What the hell?" Penelope angrily glared at him.

"What are you doing?" Morgan asked her. "You. Get lost." He growled at the guy. As the guy left pretty fast, Morgan turned his attention back to a P.O.G. (Pissed Off Garcia). "Let me explain." He softly said as he reached out towards her.

"Don't touch me! You had no right to do that! No right! Damn it Morgan, what is wrong with you?" Penelope turned and went back to the table. "Sorry guys, but I'm going home. What is his issue?" she asked JJ, Emily and Reid. The only 3 people at the table at the moment.

"Sweetie. I really think you should talk to him." JJ said kindly.

"Why? So I can act like that was okay for him to do? Thanks JJ but I'm going to pass. See you guys on Monday." And with that, she was gone on her way home and the whole way she tried to figure out what the hell just happened.

LATER THAT NIGHT

After getting home, Penelope changed into sweats and a tshirt and cuddled on her couch with a glass of red wine. She was almost perfectly comfy when there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she called on her way to get it.

"Delivery."

"Derek Morgan! You leave right now. I'm still pissed at you."

"Awww come on Mama, give a guy a break. Please just let me in so we can talk. I wasn't completely kidding about the delivery part. I brought you flowers and chocolates." When he didn't hear her, he continued. "Baby Girl, I'm really sorry." After another few seconds he heard the lock turn.

"You have a key." She said as she left the door open for him to follow her inside.

"I figured you didn't want to talk to me."

"I still haven't decided I want to talk to you. It depends on how good those chocolates are." Morgan hastily passed them over to Garcia who was now comfortably sitting on the couch again. "Baby Girl," he began as he sat by her feet, pulling them onto his lap.

"Just answer this one question. Why can you take every Jill, Erin, and Maria home that you come across but I can't make out with a guy in a bar?" She glared at him over the rim of her wine glass.

Derek Morgan made an executive decision then. Realizing that Penelope Garcia gave 100% of herself to everything she did, she wouldn't respect anything but a 100% truthful answer from him. "I was jealous."

"Jealous? Of him? Why?"

"He got to kiss you." Derek looked at the floor and his back became straight as if bracing himself for the rejection.

Penelope's face went white and her cheeks got flushed. "You were jealous of some random guy in a bar because he was kissing me. And you wanted to be the one I was kissing. Does that about cover it?"

After a minute or so, Derek answered. "Yes."

"Then, what the hell are you waiting for?"

Derek looked up fast and scanned her face to see if she was joking. Deciding that this was in fact, real, he leaned over her and braced himself on either side of her head and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

3 Months Later:

"Oh god. Oh god. Oh my freaking god!" she kept muttering as she paced back and forth across her office. Penelope Garcia was in a crisis. Def Con 5 Crisis. Her boyfriend of 3 months, Derek Morgan didn't have the faintest clue on how to help her calm down either. He had tried talking to her, holding her, even her favorite macchiato hadn't gotten her to stop her pacing. She just kept muttering and pacing. Making an executive decision, Derek slowly backed out of the office and went down the hall to the office of Jennifer Jareau. One of the best friends of his girlfriend should be able to help.

"Hey, JJ?" Morgan called gently as he knocked on the open door.

"Morgan. What's up?" JJ put down the file she was looking at and gestured for him to sit in the only chair that was free from files.

"I need some help." Morgan started. JJ didn't interrupt, she figured that Morgan would get to the point soon enough without needing her to prod him to it. "Garcia is in her office and she just keeps pacing. I can't get her to look at anything or to stop moving."

"I'll see what I can do. This happened once before. I think I can snap her out of it. Something probably just took her for a loop."

"Thanks JJ."

"No problem. Can you tell Emily, I need her to meet me in Garcia's office? I figure it won't hurt to have her there."

"No problem."

10 MINUTES LATER

"How long has she been like this?" Emily whispered to JJ.

"For about an hour. Morgan tried to snap her out of it but he couldn't do it. So he came looking for some help. Did you get that bottle of water?"

"Yeah. It's right here. What are you going to do with that?"

"It's not nice, but I'm going to throw it on her."

"What? That's cold. I just got it from the vending machine."

"So, it will work presumably at least. Look, I don't like the idea but if we can't get her to snap out of it before anybody else notices Strauss will call for a psych eval."

"I guess that's true. I hope PG will forgive you."

"Me too." And with that statement, JJ took aim and the cold water hit Penelope Garcia square in the face. 

"What the hell?" Garcia yelled.

"Sorry sweetie. You were pacing and nothing could snap you out of it. Are you okay?" JJ asked as she handed Garcia a towel and she and Emily helped her dry off.

"Yeah Jay. I'm fine. Don't worry about it. But I've got a problem."

AN HOUR LATER:

Emily found Morgan at his desk checking his watch anxiously and fidgeting in his chair. "She's okay." Emily said to him as she took a seat at her desk next to his.

"Really? Good. Where is she?"

"JJ is still in her office with her and she needs to talk to you."

"Now?"

"Yes. The sooner the better."

Morgan was up in a flash and down the hall to find his baby girl. "Garcia?" Derek asked from the doorway. His eyes finding Garcia and JJ embraced on the couch. Garcia's eyes were red and puffy from crying. "Baby Girl what is the matter?"

"Derek. I'm sorry. I know that we've talked about it and I thought we had been careful." JJ silently moved off the couch and out the door pulling it shut behind her. Derek sat next to Garcia and pulled her to him.

"Garcia. You're gonna have to spell it out for me here mama. I'm lost."

"Derek, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant? Right now?"

"Yes Derek. Right now. And I'm so sorry. I know you don't want kids but I can't do anything to this baby. I feel like it's a part of me so I understand if this is the end of us. I'll come get my stuff this weekend, and,"

"Motor mouth. Will you stop and give me a minute here?" He put his hand across her abdomen slowly. "How far along are you?"

"The doctor called this morning said I was 11 weeks. That's why I feel tired all the time and why I keep throwing up. Derek are you upset or what?" Penelope looked up at him and waited for his response. 

"I'm definitely not upset Baby. I'm so overwhelmed with excitement. You and me and going to have a baby. Half of each of us."

"Yeah Derek. Half of each of us. So your happy?"

"Hell yes. I'm happy." Derek pulled her close and kissed her until she forgot her own name.

6 MONTHS LATER

"Derek Franklin Morgan!"

Derek cringed from where he stood in the kitchen making his cup of coffee. His mother had flew in for the last month or so of Penelope's pregnancy to help them get the house ready for her grandson. Unfortunately, everything she had found since her arrival, yesterday ended up with her bellowing for her son.

"Yeah mom?" Derek answered while climbing the stairs towards his mothers voice.

"Mrs. Morgan. I can"

"Now dear, there will be none of that Mrs. nonsense. I'm Fran darling."

"Fran, I can help. I'm perfectly mobile."

"I'm going to have to call your bluff on that one baby." Derek said as he entered the nursery. He and Penelope had decided on an underwater theme for the nursery and the walls were a deep blue with various underwater creatures painted here and there. Penelope was currently sitting on the clam-shaped window seat/book shelf and his mother was organizing clothes and socks on the octopus storage unit.

"Jerk." Penelope muttered and tossed a book in his direction. She rubbed her belly and scowled at her fiancé.

"Baby. You know I was only joking." Derek said as he walked toward her. "I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world." He gently held either side of her face and looked her in the eyes. "Thank you for my son."

"God, I love you Derek Morgan." Penelope replied and then proceeded to kiss him with jest.

Fran Morgan smiled from her spot across the room. She decided to give him this moment with his fiancé. After that minute was up, Fran Morgan was going to do some renovations of her own. The current setup for this toy chest would simply not do.


	3. Chapter 3

Penelope scooted to the edge of the bed and worked her feet under her. Now that she was less than a week from her due date, it seemed like all she did was pee and eat.

"Baby Girl, is everything all right?" Derek asked without opening his eyes lifting his head from the pillow.

"Go back to sleep my sugar plum, your son has just taken up residence on my bladder. Once I pee, I will rejoin my spot in your heavenly embrace."

"Hurry back mama, I don't like sleeping with out you."

"And I get very little sleep without you, my chocolate god of thunder." She waddled off to the bathroom. Once her business was taken care of, she opened the door and a sudden pain ran up her back. Penelope took a sharp intake of breath as she rubbed her back in a soothing motion and made her way back to their bed.

"You okay P?" Derek asked as she climbed in next to him.

"Yeah, just a little back pain, it'll be fine in the morning."

"Come here baby, I'll make it better." Derek gently tugged her towards him and went to work relieving the pressure that had built on her spine. But less than 5 minutes later, another pain hit her and this one was a little stronger than the first. Penelope didn't say anything but 3 contractions later, 4 minutes apart and they had gained in strength she had come to the conclusion that she was in labor.

"Derek?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"I don't want you to panic here or anything but, I think I'm in labor." Derek was the poster child for calm in that moment and Penelope didn't think it was possible but she fell a little deeper in love with him. "Can you go downstairs and wake your mom, get the bags from the closet and start the car? I'm just going to change out of this nightgown and put some sweats and one of your old tshirts on."

"Are you sure I can leave you by yourself? Is that safe?"

"Its fine D. I promise, you will be back to help me down the stairs. Besides, as much as I love you, I won't protect you from your mother if you don't wake her up so she misses this." Penelope smiled at Derek and pulled him close for a kiss. Soon another contraction hit and Penelope moaned a little in pain. "Better get this show on the road stud muffin, it seems like your son has already inherited your lack of patience." Derek quickly made his way out of the room and down the stairs. Penelope worked on getting dressed and found some slippers for her feet and was pulling on her coat when Derek appeared back in the doorway a little out of breath.

"You ready for this mama?"

"I better be. Your son is coming, ready or not."

"You are going to make a wonderful mom P. And I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I get to do it with you."

Penelope teared up a little at his comment and brushed the tears away almost as fast as they fell. "I love you Derek Morgan."  
"And I love you too Penelope Morgan. Did I mention yet how much I love your new name?" Derek and Penelope had gotten married a week before in a small church ceremony that the team and his family attended. They had each other and they were going to have a baby, neither felt a need to wait and they wanted to be husband and wife when the baby came.

"Let's go have a baby hot stuff." Penelope said as the couple made their way to the car with an anxious Fran in tow.

10 HOURS LATER:

"Come on baby, one more push and we can say hi to our son." Derek coached.

"I'm going to show you a BABY Derek! I'd like to see you push a baby out of a hole the size of a softball!" she yelled at him and then red-faced proceeded to bear down and push all with all the strength in her body.

". . .7, 8, 9, 10 . . . Good Job! Okay now, take a breath and come right back. That's it. 5, 6, 7, 8, And Congratulations! You have a healthy baby boy!" The nurse exclaimed as she quickly cleaned the baby and got the cord ready for Derek to cut. After Derek had cut the cord and the placenta had been delivered, the staff gave the new family a few minutes to themselves.

"Look what we did handsome." Penelope whispered to Derek who sat beside her bed in an armchair holding their precious baby boy in his arms. "I think I came up with a name for him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, How about William Derek Morgan?"

"After my dad?"

"Well I know William was his middle name but I want Derek to be his middle name. What do you think?"

"I think it fits him perfect. What do you think Will?" The baby continued to sleep peacefully in his father's arms. "I think he likes it enough, clearly he's happy enough to continue sleeping."

Penelope smiled at Derek. "I'm really happy D."

"I'm really happy too baby girl."

"Derek, I never thought anything like this was possible for me and you've made every dream that I never dared to dream, come true. How do I ever repay you for that?"

"Baby, you are the answer to all of my prayers. Life isn't worth living without you beside me. Everything was dull and gray before I met you. You made me see the world as a bright, wonderful place where all sorts of things are possible. I don't think I saved you, I think you saved me."

"I think we saved each other."

"Yeah baby, let's go with that. We saved each other."

Fran knocked on the door and peeked her head in. "Can I see my grandson now?"

"Sure mom. We decided on a name for him too, William Derek Morgan."

Fran looked at Penelope and smiled. "Thank you."

"No thanks necessary. I'm sorry I never got to meet Derek's father. I'm positive that he was a great man."

"He was." The two women shared a private moment and then Derek passed the baby to his mother and turned to kiss his baby girl.

"I'm going to let the team know of this little guy's name okay baby girl. You ready for visitors yet? I'm sure Em and JJ are going to kill Dave and Hotch if they don't let them come back here soon."

"Yeah, tell Dave and Hotch they are safe. Send everyone back." Penelope and Derek shared a quick but emotion filled lip lock. "I love you hot stuff."

"Love you too Goddess."

After everyone had visited with the baby and new parents, they were left to peacefully sleep, at least until Will needed to eat.

ONE WEEK LATER:

"Hot stuff?"

"Yeah Baby girl?"

"Can you grab me a few diapers from the nursery? I forgot to bring some down."

"No problem momma."

"Thanks!"

Penelope left the bottom of the stairs and went back to the kitchen where Fran Morgan was sitting with Will in his bouncer seat as she sipped at her morning coffee. "What's your plan for the day Fran?"

"I was going to sort through a few boxes of knick knacks and set them up in my room a little. What about you?"  
"I'm bringing Will for a visit to see the team. They're on stand down until I go back to work in two weeks and JJ called me last night and begged me to see him." Penelope smiled at the memory of her best friend accusing her of keeping the baby from her. "JJ said that she had a dream that Will graduated Kindergarten and JJ didn't know what he looked like."

"It sounds like your friend has missed you."

"I've missed her and Em too. I've just gotten so busy; I can't believe he's already a month old."

"The time will fly sweetie. Before you realize it, he will be joining the FBI."

"What is this I hear about the FBI?" Derek asked as he entered the kitchen. "Ah, there's my little man." Derek said and bent to kiss the baby's head.

"I'm bringing Will into the office this morning to see the team. When are you leaving? Can we ride with you?"

"Well I can't leave my goddess of a wife stranded can I?" Derek asked playfully as he tugged her close for a mind-searing kiss. "Do you need me to pack anything?"

"Pack?" Penelope looked at him with a faraway look in her eyes.

"For the baby P." Derek chuckled, his woman was completely and totally into him. He truly was the luckiest man in the world.

"No, just the diapers, the diaper bag is already packed aside from the diapers you just brought down. We can leave once I get dressed."

"I'll help you, maybe we can get undressed and then help each other find new clothes."

"Derek! You don't say things like that in front of your mom!" Penelope swatted at him and turned to look at Fran. "I'm sorry Fran. Your son seems to have forgotten his manners."

"Baby girl, my mom doesn't think Will was dropped off by a stork, and we are married."

"I hear you Derek but just don't give her details okay?"

"Am I forgiven mama?" He playfully kissed her and nipped lightly at her bottom lip eliciting a moan from his neglected wife. "If we go upstairs, we can both get a little relief before we start our day."

"What about Will?" Pen whispered.

"My mom will watch him." He said quietly back to her. "Hey mom, can you watch the baby for a little bit? I'm just going to help Penelope get something out of the closet."

"Sure honey. No problem, I'll get the little man dressed for the day. You go tend to your wife." She said with a knowing smile. Pen and Derek didn't even care that Fran knew what they were up to. They had missed each other way too much at this point to care.

After having a little bit of fun upstairs, not the main event of course because Pen wasn't completely healed from giving birth but they were both satisfied enough. The happy couple made their way toward the car with their son nestled in his seat.

EVENTUALLY:

Life continued quite blissfully for the couple. Will's baby sisters Ava and Emma were born three years later and Pen and Derek were immensely grateful that Derek had worked up the courage to tell Pen how he felt all those years ago. Imagine if he hadn't? Where would they be? I certainly can't bear to think about it!

AUTHORS NOTE:

Thanks so much for sticking with me on this journey! I appreciate all the comments and the alerts :-) Check out my other story "Once upon a phone call". It's another Derek/Pen romance story but this one has a little bit of a twist!


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